Interactive dynamic simulation schemes for articulated bodies through haptic interface

Abstract

This paper describes interactive dynamic simulation schemes for articulated bodies in virtual environments, where user interaction is allowed through a haptic interface. We incorporated these schemes into our dynamic simulator I-GMS, which was developed in an object-oriented framework for simulating motions of free bodies and complex linkages, such as those needed for robotic systems or human body simulation. User interaction is achieved by performing push and pull operations with the PHANTOM haptic device, which runs as an integrated part of I-GMS. We use both forward and inverse dynamics of articulated bodies for the haptic interaction by the push and pull operations, respectively. We demonstrate the user-interaction capability of I-GMS through on-line editing of trajectories for 6-dof (degrees of freedom) articulated bodies.